Opening Night At The 35th Cleveland International Film Festival

Last night was the beginning of the 35th Cleveland International Film Festival at Tower City Cinemas. One of my favorite things about opening night is viewing the festival trailer for the first time. The Trailer does an excellent job of setting the mood for the event. Authentic Films always does an amazing job creating these trailers.

The 35th Cleveland International Film Festival started with a film titled "Hamill", a story about a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wresting who is deaf. Matt "The Hammer" Hamill is originally from Loveland Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnatti.

Hamill's story is touching. He grew up with a grandfather who consistently told him he was not different and needed no special schooling. Because of this Matt grew up and became and excellent lip-reader but was unable to sign very well. Later on Hamill attended Rochester Institute of Technology for three years after transferring from Purdue. While attending RIT Hamill lived in the deaf quad where he had assistance with his speech and signing. Not only did Matt "The Hammer" Hamill win three NCAA National Championships while at RIT he also made many friends and fell in love.

Both Hamill and the actor who played Hamill, Russell Harvard who is also deaf attended the film last night. Matt briefly spoke before the film and thanked everyone for attending.

The Film Festival is going on at Tower City Cinemas every day until April 3, 2011. There are over 300 films to choose from this year. You can browse film titles and purchase tickets online at www.clevelandfilm.org . Be Part Of The Story.